Spark
by Viper of Grand
Summary: Sparks start as something small, but if given the proper fuel and the proper environment, in time they can become brilliant flames. A look on Vi and Jayce's characters, their possible relationship, and surprisingly a light piece done by me. Vi x Jayce
1. Part 1

"So...let me get this straight." Caitlyn rubbed her eyes in frustration. '_The paperwork for this is going to be abysmal...'_was the first thought that crossed her mind. She folded her hands on her desk, and stared at the man that sat before her.

The man was in his late twenties. He was taller than her, had a chiseled jaw, had blue eyes that shined with intelligence, finely coiffed, dark hair and a lean body type that was covered by his thick clothing. It would be hard to guess that he was one of the most prolific scientists in all of Piltover. At least, it would be, if it were not for the large hammer he carried with him. It was no ordinary hammer, one could see the sleek design it carried with the buttons and gears that were streamlined along the shaft and the head of the hammer. The gold and silver that decorated it were to simply enhance how it looked, while the real, more hardy metal could be seen peeking out from hairline cracks along the top of the hammer. It looked like it was meant to transform into something else.

His handsome features were marred by large, swollen black right eye. His nose was slightly twisted out of order and dried blood could be seen on his upper lip. If it were not for his coat, the extent of the damages would have been seen much more easily. What was visible of his shirt displayed obvious signs of battle: charred edges, burn wounds that were blistered and a ugly pus filled pink color that oozed with liquid, as well as various lacerations from whatever shrapnel or edged weapons that may have struck him. His left leg visibly twitched every now and then, as if it were reacting to the pain he should be experiencing from the wounds he suffered.

"After Viktor attacked your lab, you asked the government, and the police force, to do something. We cannot since he is out of our jurisdiction. It would be up to the Zaunite government to judge and punish him, as we explained to you, and you still went after him, yes? You still remember the conversations that we had?"

The man nodded, "Yes. I remember it, and you're recalling it perfectly fine."

"Then you went in and...destroyed his lab, as well as the crystal power source which you were contracted to study and to document by said government, which caused the laboratory to explode."

"Yes."

"And you caused hundreds of thousands worth of damage, you antagonized a champion of the League, and the Zaunite government is now screaming for justice to be done to you, which we cannot let slide. You're following this, right?"

The man nodded once more, "I am."

Caitlyn dropped her head onto her hands and groaned. Her fingers hit the rim of her violet top hat, pushing it backwards so that it almost fell off her head. "Jayce, you...I understand why you did what you did, I truly do. It was a mockery of justice what he did, your workers should have proper justice, but what you did _was_ and _is_ very illegal."

"That's why I'm here, sheriff," Jayce replied. "And not at the hospital for medical treatment. I'm turning myself in."

"Jayce, luv, that's great and all, but you're looking at a ridiculous fine, you're looking at jail time, and you broke the law. I-"

"Woah, hey now," a new, brash voice cut in. The door to Caitlyn's office banged open, causing it to strike the bookshelf directly next to it as a woman strutted through the doorway.

Her bright pink hair was short, save for the bangs that drooped down in front of her right eye and the several braids of long, neon pink hair that trailed down her back. A pair of goggles barely gave her messy hair a semblance of order. Her blue eyes had glints of arrogance, mischievousness, and intelligence to them, which matched the smirk she always seemed to wear on her thin lips. Along her face were a modest amount of freckles while underneath her left eye was a tattoo, reading, 'VI'. Her lithe, yet muscular, figure was covered by modest clothing and practical pieces of armor. The most characteristic feature about her were the large hextech gauntlets that twitched with a dexterity that was nearly a perfect match to the real thing. They were easily four to six times the width of a normal man's arm, and they fit snugly and comfortably onto her forearms.

"Vi." The annoyance in Caitlyn's tone was obvious. "What is it?"

"Those gauntlets..." Jayce looked at them with far too much curiosity. He wanted to analyze them _thoroughly_. "Wh-"

Vi crossed her arms and her smirk grew wider. She acted as though the chair Jayce was sitting in was completely empty, as she did not spare him even a glance while she spoke to the sheriff, "Come on, Cait, let's be honest. What did he do _so_wrong?"

"For one thing, he acted like a vigilante and the common person is condoning his action. Secondly: The damage. He's going to have to pay for them."

Jayce's face fell at the mention of paying the damages. "Oh...bugger..."

The woman looked over at the man for the first time and let out short, condescending grunt, "What's that look for?"

"Paying for the damages is...it's going to be a lot of money," Jayce replied. It was a ridiculous sum, since he did destroy the entire lab, and he most certainly did not have the cash to pay it back.

Vi moved her lower lip forward and puffed out an exasperated breath, shuffling her long bangs into a more visible position. She glared at the man, "Oh wah wah. If that was your concern then you shouldn't have done something that awesome. Go to your sad corner and cry if you wanna be all remorseful and regrettin'-"

"I regret nothing," Jayce interrupted. "It's just going to be a sizable bill to...pay back. I don't have the funds-"

"Which leads me into how you plan on paying for these damages, because you _are_ going to pay them... Or you would, if the Piltover government wasn't offering to help pay for a large portion, and if the people out in Piltover weren't rejoicing your name." Caitlyn let out a long sigh, "Jayce, _Vi_, this is a really hard position I'm in. I need to take you, Jayce, before a court, and I need you to go on trial for vigilantism and for causing damage because two wrongs do not make a right."

"So he shoulda just let jerkface get away with what he did?" Vi snapped. "Come on Cait, you know-"

"That is not the law, Vi. That is not how it works," The sheriff interrupted with a combination of her finger tapping her desk dramatically along with a sharp reply. "What Jayce did was what he perceived to be justice. And despite going against the law, despite all of this, I don't condemn him for what he did. He needs to take responsibility for his actions though, and we have to maintain a positive image about law and order. This means that the law has to be seen through and through."

Caitlyn looked over at Jayce, "Luv, I'm going to make some recommendations to the judge. It will be a more lenient sentence, especially with how the government is viewing your actions, but we both know that this is why you're here. You want to see that the law is carried out, to dissuade others from pursuing your path."

"Yes, sheriff," Jayce nodded sluggishly, as though the movement was painful to him due to injury. "To dissuade others, but I'm not going to stand by and let Piltover be stepped on because of what others think is right and wrong. Viktor attacked me, he killed my staff, he took my work and expected me to to lay down and not retaliate. I'm not going to stand back and let him create whatever monstrosity for the glorious revolution he was intending. I'll take the punishment, but I'm going to continue to defend Piltover."

Caitlyn raised an eyebrow. A smile spread across her face as she quickly came to a conclusion, "So that's why you're here. You want to join the League, don't you?"

Jayce nodded a bit more quickly this time, his eye twitched as the movement made the injury twinged. "I do."

"That would severely reduce your sentence, pay for a vast amount of the damages, and you would be allowed to exercise a little bit more freedom in your... line of work." Caitlyn nodded her head, pleased with Jayce`s decision. "You wanted to see justice done, but you came here to consult me about this."

Vi looked over at Jayce, her smirk widening into a toothy smile. The man was clever. Very clever. And that hammer looked so interesting. She had to ask him about it.

"I believe in a brighter tomorrow, Caitlyn. So I can work with you, and the rest of Piltover, or I can be put in the background. If I'm on the forefront, I promise you, I won't stop defending Piltover. I understand the consequences of my actions, and I'm willing to take the punishment for them. I want to continue defending Piltover, hammer in hand. I want you to help recommend me, and I want you to legally punish me for my actions. I may be called a hero, but not even I am above the law."

Caitlyn tapped her chin, contemplating about what he said. A small smile played across her lips.

Vi quickly grabbed the sheriff's shoulders and shook her out of her contemplation, "Take a break, relax, think about it, and I'll come talk to ya afterwards and tell you my recommendation for what to do with our lawbreaker."

Caitlyn rolled her eyes and let out an exasperated sigh, "Your recommendation is going to involve punch-"

"Nope. No punching, I promise."

The sheriff blinked. She looked over at the bruiser of a woman and raised an eyebrow in utter confusion. "...What?"

"Come on cupcake, take a break, relax, let me talk to him. I'm sure we can come up with a solution together."

Caitlyn shrugged and broke away from Vi and made her way to her door, "Alright, alright, fine. Five-"

"Ten?"

Caitlyn's eyebrow could not go any higher. "...Ten minutes."

Caitlyn left the room, clicked the door closed, and took three steps before she slapped her forehead, "They're in my office! Why did I leave my office?!" She stormed back in and pointed out her door, "You two! Her office! Go!"

Vi was already sitting in Caitlyn's chair and reaching over to grab the Kinetic Balls that Caitlyn kept on her desk.

"_No _touching my stuff!"

Vi rolled her eyes and stood up from the seat, "I wasn't gonna touch anything. You're too wound up!" She walked over and grabbed Jayce's arm, making him wince in pain. "Come on, big boy. You and me got some talking to do. Grab your hammer and let's move."

Caitlyn watched the two leave her office. She made her way over to her chair and sank into it, only to find herself almost as low as her desk. "She touched my chair..."

Once Vi and Jayce were alone, Vi walked over to her window and stared dramatically at it. She seemed to be watching the people that crossed the streets below with an intensity few had ever seen on her face before.

Jayce cleared his throat and attempted to speak, "I wasn't aware of your name, but I remember you, Miss Vi. You were one of the officers that came to my lab after the incident. Helped lift some of the wreckage off of me."

"Yeah. I did," She did not look back at him yet.

"You, ah...you told me that if the government doesn't do something, I should. I suppose I should thank you for the advice, Miss Vi," Jayce said while his eyes wandered around the room. "So...thank you. For inspiring me to do what's needed."

"I know how you can thank me," The devious tone of Vi's voice overpowered any playful undertone she may have intended to exhibit. She twitched and rolled her gauntlets' fingers against the palms of her gloves.

Jayce waited for her to give the rest of the answer. He did not sit there long as she lunged across the room and grabbed his hammer. She ran her fingers along it, her eyes glistening with a devilish curiosity.

"What's the power matrix that you use for this hammer? What other features does it have? Does it accelerate, and if so, what engine design did you use to give it its accelerant properties?" She was obviously excited, far more than a normal person would when speaking of mechanics. She clicked a button before Jayce could say anything, which made the hammer click and whirr. In less than a second, the hammer's head split apart, reconfigured itself, and revealed a tube that crackled with magical energy.

"...Is...Is that a gun?"

"Yes, yes it is. It's a-"

".40 caliber barrel but..." Vi stuck her nose close to the mouth of the barrel and sniffed it, "Uses no gunpowder, therefore no ammunition. It's all powered via its magical core, meaning it creates its own self sustaining ammunition. How?"

Jayce straightened himself in his seat, suddenly much more haughty. "The crystal that Viktor managed to steal? Well, he didn't steal the designs or the majority of my research for it. The magical matrix of the crystal was hard to replicate and is a tad complicated for the _average_person, but..."

"But? But what?" Vi shook the hammer at him, "Tell me!"

"But with how you designed your gauntlets, I cannot say you're average at all, Miss Vi. I'm sure you can understand-"

"Just Vi. Now you got me all curious: Tell me what you see about my babies."

Jayce got up from his seat and limped over to her. He took off his gloves and started to poke and prod her gauntlets, "I can see how you incorporated the Quantum Matrix Transformation equation in your gauntlets to change your power source into a fearsome kinetic output. Absolutely impressive, I have not seen anyone else manage to harmonize and amalgamate it into a proper generator, never mind a pair of gauntlets. What's the maximum velocity they can reach?"

Vi grinned, "Technically speaking or can I sound like a badass?"

"First one then the other," Jayce laughed.

"I can hit ya faster than you can blink," the brash woman stated.

"Is that the technical or the badass sounding term?" Jayce raised an incredulous eyebrow. "Because what you're suggesting is that you can punch faster than the average blinking speed of a human, roughly three hundred to four hundred milliseconds."

Vi's grin only widened in response.

"I can make it faster."

"Bull_shit _you can!" She snapped.

Jayce raised his hands defensively, "I can shave a few milliseconds off quite easily because of the rough edges, help streamline the overall design. It looks like you almost cobbled this together at first and improved from the initial design over the years."

The woman's grin returned in a blink of the eye. "I did. I improvised it _years_ago. Never took away the basic foundation of it."

Jayce started to point at the rougher edges, "Just literally shave these areas here, here, aaand here, and a few milliseconds can be subtracted. We can make it more energy efficient as well, I can see how to better divert the power. Maybe we can look at the materials of your gauntlets and augment their strength with some-"

"Or we can make it more efficient and divert the additional power to help create a mana shield!"

"A mana shield? Around the gauntlets?"

"Around the entire person. That way I don't have to raise my arms every time I need to block some jerk or debris flying at my face. What if it were to activate from kinetic build up to add to the magical energy, combine the two?"

"That sounds very theoretical, but..." Jayce's brow knit together. "Hm...Kinetic build up...So whenever you punch someone it would grow in strength?"

"Or something!" Vi wagged a finger at him, "Can't forget about punching stuff. That's fun too!"

"I suppose it can be done...with my help. I am a _genius _after all," he replied with a gracious helping of egotism. "I think if you let me work on them I c-"

"Uh huh, genius, sure. You know your hammer has some big flaws I can see from here, right?"

"Has some big...It's the pinnacle of weaponry!"

Vi rolled her eyes and let out a condescending snort, "Yeah, sure. If you say so."

"What's wrong with it?"

"Nothing, Mr. Genius. You would know, wouldn't you?"

"Tell me what's wrong."

"You really want me to tell you?" Mischievousness hung in her voice, as well as a flirtatious undertone that was not usually expected from someone like Vi.

"_Yes_, really."

"Reaaaaally want me to tell you?"

"Just tell me!" Jayce snapped.

Vi raised her hands up defensively, letting the hammer tip over. Her voice took on a mocking tone as she replied, "Oooh big man, yelling at an officer of the law. Whatcha gonna do when your hammer's center of balance is off kilter by a few millimeters and you miss your target? Or when the weight distribution can be better diffused, or gee I don't know, maybe the gun portion can do something more than shoot energy? Maybe it can create an acceleration field to help increase the power and range of your energy projectiles? Go overkill, y'know? Maybe you can adjust it so it can use the more magical aspect to positively affect you, recharge your own batteries, y'know?"

Jayce barely caught his hammer in time and glared at Vi, "I'll have you know that it's..." He shifted the hammer slightly in his grip and switched it from one hand to the other. He groaned, "Son of a...the fight did make it off balance."

"Toldja so."

"How'd you know?"

"'side from being able to feel the weight was off? It's 'cuz my gauntlets are pretty awesome. Tells me everything from the weight of something to the measurement of force bein' exerted by me. I record it all on these little gauges, each record something different." She tapped one of the many circular gauges. It looked like it was meant to measure temperature or pressure rather than anything else, the sort of measuring tool one would see for checking the status of a boiler. It looked like it was quickly cobbled together and thrown on the gauntlet hastily, but never swapped out, which contrasted with the rest of the gauntlet's sleeker design.

"I could improve the recorders, or even put a measuring tool to help show when it gets close to overheating as a safety precaution. Modernize them a bit more. Maybe create a failsafe for said overheating?"

"How do you know it didn't have a failsafe, huh?"

"Because that would mean you're careful, and from what I've seen? You are quite the dangerous woman," Jayce said with a smile. "Beautiful, strong, quite spirited, and intelligent? Please, that'd be an insult to call you intelligent. You're beyond that."

When Jayce smiled at her, an unfamiliar feeling rose in her chest and her stomach. She'd seen people smile before, but his smile? It made him look...the best way she could put it, was ridiculously handsome. Despite his bloodied and bruised face, she could definitely say he was handsome. Or hot. One of the two. Mostly both.

"Oh please, you're flatterin' me waaay too much," she laughed in response, her freckled face turned slightly red while smacking his chest. She did not notice the wince and the silent gasp of pain as he tried his best to look as masculine as he could instead of going with his gut instinct to vomit from pain.

"It's not my fault people are all like, 'Vi why are you so cool oh no my face why are you punching my face?'" Vi attempted to change the topic, "Anyways, your hammer's cool, I _suppose_. I can give you a few tips about how to improve it if you wanna supervise my work on my twins."

"Is something wrong, Vi?" He held one hand over his chest, as if it would protect him from another swat from Vi. "You seem to be a bit flushed."

"Me? Flushed?" She waved him off, her gauntlet barely missing his chest as she swung it aimlessly. Her face reddened a bit further, "It's just that I like your smile."

Jayce thought about what she said. Before he could say anything, she pumped her arm up and down dramatically as she replied in a cocky tone, "Makes a nice target." Any sign of red quickly dissipated from her face and was replaced by her trademark grin.

The inventor's smile widened as he burst into laughter. He reached over and patted the back of her gauntlet, near her elbow, in an attempt to be friendly. A surge of energy crackled out, singeing the ceiling of the office.

Jayce instantly drew back and held his hands against his chest. He most likely did something to damage her gloves, and from the spark that was issued he could only assume the worst. He slowly started to inch away from her, in his futile attempt to keep himself out of harm's way. He was in no condition to do much, save for limping away at a relatively quick pace.

Vi scowled and slammed her other gauntlet over the area that he had touched. "You're lucky you're good lookin' _and _in a police station, or else I'd have to kill you for doing that," she growled. Vi attempted to repair what Jayce had accidentally knocked out of place, ultimately pointless due to how huge her fingers were.

"That seems to be a design flaw if anything. I could probably look into that too." He was in this deep, might as well try to mend the rift he made.

Vi rolled her eyes and gave him a condescending snort. She was about to reply when her door swung open to reveal a still annoyed Caitlyn. The sheriff glared at the two, "I smell burning. It's been nine minutes and fifty seconds. A new record. Vi, out here, _now_. Jayce, luv, stay there for a bit, please."

"Comin', cupcake." Vi walked toward the door and gave Jayce a joking wave, "Later, Captain Hammer."

Vi closed the door behind her and looked at Caitlyn. The woman jerked her large thumb at her office, "In my defense, he started the f-"

"I don't care," Caitlyn interrupted. "Nothing's badly damaged and you've done worse. I just wanted to speak to you out here and not have you question me or delay me for time."

"Yeah yeah, I know the codeword: a new record. I'm not forgetful."

"You have a very selective memory." Caitlyn shook her head, "However, not the point. I'm going to see to it that he serves a few months in jail at the very least, pays his bills, and I'll put forward the paperwork to make him a League champion."

"Sooo can we talk about me joining the L-"

"It's not up to me. I can't force the League to let you, or him, in, Vi. We've been over this." Caitlyn waggled a finger at Vi, "You still have to pass the psych test."

"But I'm perfectly sane! _You_ know that, _I_know that!"

"Says the woman who refuses to take the psych test and the same woman I found in the process of strangling someone."

"I know I'm sane! I don't need the stupid test! And besides, I had a good reason to strangle him!" Vi crossed her arms, her lower lip quivered in a pout as her cheeks puffed out. "I _attempted _to strangle him because he had attempted to mug a little ol' lady. I had to 'strangle' him so the geezer would let him live. Mean old bat, she was."

"Not the point. I'm putting the paperwork ahead because he dealt with a League champion, meaning he has a better chance of joining due to the possible rivalry that the League would love to bank off of and I would be able to help him in that sense, in accordance to the law."

"But-"

"I wouldn't even put Jayce in it if it were up to me, but mother always did say he was incorrigible once he got a thought in his head." She let out a sigh, "Seems like he didn't get any better with age."

"So...uh...Sheriff Caitlyn? Can I make a suggestion?" Vi cricked her metallic knuckles. Despite her calm attitude, only did this when she was on an adrenaline high or when she was unsure of something.

It was also incredibly disconcerting to hear Vi call her by her rank and name.

"What is it, Vi?"

"Can I make a suggestion about his sentence?"

Caitlyn rolled her hand about, fully expecting a typical Vi suggestion that involved punching something or someone. "Go ahead."

"Community service and house arrest. No prison time, but he's gotta do stuff for the community of Piltover, and he's gotta stay home."

"...That is a terrible idea, house arrest. Then it's not really a punishment, now is it?"

"But he wouldn't last in prison," Vi retorted. "Look at him. He's so squishy and intelligent that the inmates would go, 'hey free punching bag let's make him taste the pain!'" She slammed a clenched fist into the palm of her open hand, sending out a loud ringing clang. "Or even worse, he's 'purty' enough that if he dropped the soap..."

Caitlyn shuddered at the thought. Her nose twitched and turned upwards as her face contorted into an expression of utmost disgust, "And that was imagery I could have lived without imagining for the rest of my life. Thank you for that, Vi. I truly needed it."

"Come on Cait, he's a scientist and an inventor! Putting him in prison you might as well give him a noose! He's gotta do things with his hands and other sciency stuff, he's going to go crazy with boredom otherwise!"

"Vi, that sounds good and all, but he lives by himself. There'd be no one to watch him, and I'd have to assign people to monitor him and so forth. It's not that simple."

"Doesn't he have a girlfriend, a wife, maybe a boyfriend, someone to watch him? We could just delegate it to them and boom, problem solved! Free monitor there."

Caitlyn palmed her face in exasperation, "What does...? No, even if he did have any of what you just mentioned, we wouldn't delegate that responsibility to civilians. That would be unprofessional and lazy."

"So what's wrong about having someone watch him?"

"He doesn't seem particularly dangerous, and it seems to be a bit overkill. Who would have the time to make sure he doesn't leave his house, or do his groceries? His assistants were all killed, he hasn't had much time to rebuild, and-"

"Maybe I can volunteer. Y'know, keep him in line, and it'll be good training for me!"

Caitlyn's eyes went wide with shock. She tried finding the proper words to express her sentiment. She eventually settled on one: "What?"

Vi cracked her knuckles again, her grin reemerging, "Think about it, sheriff. You want me to try and be more controlled, I can watch him, and who knows if the Zaunites won't retaliate, right? Who better to watch Captain Hammer there than me? I can grab his grocery crap, keep an eye on him, make sure he doesn't leave the lab, and he's got the best bodyguard in the world. It's perfect!"

"...Then prison would serve as a better deterrent against the avenging Zaunites than-"

"Soap."

Caitlyn shuddered again, "Gah! Why? Why must you invoke that image again so soon?"

"Because we also have some Zaunites in prison. They could easily try something, and then what? Would we isolate him completely? How would the people see a hero being treated like a murderer, or worse? He didn't kill anyone, right?"

"No...He didn't."

"So come on, Sheriff! It's a good idea! You gave me a chance, no prison time involved, so why shouldn't you give him a chance? And besides, didn't you used to be a bit of a vigilante yourself back in the _lawless_days of Piltover?"

Caitlyn tapped her lips in deep thought. She wasn't exactly sure, but Vi did bring up valid points. For once.

"I'll do whatever you say for half the time of his sentence, no questions asked, and no grumbling. I'll even address you by title. Come on cupcake! No reason to be so mean to him, I know you don't want to look soft, but..." Vi laced the fingers of her gauntlets on one another, waiting for her response.

"...Starting today, you will call me Sheriff Caitlyn."

"Yes ma'am!"

"And your partner will also be holding shifts with you over the watch. If I need you, he will watch Jayce for you, alright?"

"Fine!"

Caitlyn nodded, "I'll make the suggestion to the judge, on one final condition."

"Name it, cup..." Vi faked a cough and straightened herself, "I mean, sheriff."

"Take him to the hospital. He looks like he went ten rounds in the brush with Annie and Tibbers. I'm not even sure how he's still breathing."

Vi scoffed as she walked toward her office, "Please, him? He's Captain Hammer! I wouldn't expect any less!" She chuckled as she reached for her door knob, "And if he's passed out here in my office he's gonna totally ruin my point."

Vi opened her door and saw Jayce at her desk, his hammer laid on top of it. He was muttering to himself and fiddling with the exposed circuitry in the head of the hammer. He looked up and meekly waved at Vi, "Ah...So...I got bored. I took your advice about the weight and recalibrated it. You didn't have anything on your desk so I assumed-"

"Ah relax," she waved him off. "Pack up and come on, Capt. I'm taking you to the hospital."

Jayce reached over and clicked a button, which made the hammer close up and reform itself. He picked it up and raised it over his shoulder. The shaft of the hammer slid down several metallic hoops until it reached the middle of his back, where it hung straight and secure. A foot and a half of the hammer's shaft remained visible above his head while it fit snugly in place.

Vi snorted, "That's a _dumb _way to carry a weapon."

Jayce put his gloves back on. First the left, then the right. He twitched the index finger on his right glove which made the hammer rocket out from its sheath, smash into the ceiling, and land neatly in his open palms. "You were saying something about my Mercury Hammer?"

Vi could not help but clap enthusiastically at the display. "Ha ha! Nice!"

Caitlyn peeked in from around the corner just in time to see the dust and debris shower Jayce's shoulders. She sighed, "You do realize that's going to be added to your bill, right?"

"Pft, I'll take care of it," Vi replied. She grabbed Jayce's arm and roughly dragged him out of the room, "Come on, Capt. Hospital time."

"But-"

"We can do this the hard way or..."

Jayce waited for Vi to finish her sentence. It never came as she seemed to fall into deep thought. He attempted to finish her thought, "...Or the easy way?"

"Easy way? Oh shnookums, you are _so _adorable!" She reached over and pinched his cheek. It was the one that had the most visible and he winced in pain. She proceeded to shake his cheek with a fair amount of gusto. "There's only the hard way."

Caitlyn left the two be, knowing that when Vi was on a job, she was serious about it most of the time. Still, it was strange to see her _this _serious about a job that did not necessitate punching people. She would have to think about what this meant, after she found a secretary to speak to. They needed to contact their usual contractor for a broken ceiling. Ever since Vi had been inducted into their ranks, he had been making a fortune off the police department.

Jayce straightened himself and walked alongside Vi, who still held his arm. "You can let go anytime you want, Vi. I'm not going to run. I'll go to the hospital."

She laughed, "Damn straight you ain't gonna run! But I gotta make sure the convict doesn't bolt. Safety precaution, procedure, all that stuff, y'know? Besides..." Vi shot him yet another mischievous look. "I dare ya to resist. See what happens."

Vi continued to walk alongside Jayce all the way to the hospital, although she had to carry him half of the way the moment his body realized the severity of the injuries he suffered.

* * *

Author's Note: It's been a while since I've posted here! I'm trying to get caught up, and honestly, Vi's release made me want to release this! However! There is a bit of a back story to Vi that I will be using. Where can you find it? My editor for Equinox, KuzAnn, also does her own writing! She's writing a chunk of the story that I will be referring to, but either way she writes great stuff. Go over, look at it, comment on it, and be sure to check both here and there for updates!

s/8807057/1/The-Weight-of-Responsibility

This short story is going to be a 3 parter! The rest has been written and is being edited as we speak! They will come soon! Sorry for the hiccup against the polls, I'll have to take a look at the forum I made for y'all, aaah, Happy Holidays and all the best!


	2. Part 2

_Months Later_

Even in Piltover, the City of Progress, they resorted to the more time honored, traditional methods of memorialisation for their dead. The cemetery was located near the rim of the city limits. The contrast was obvious with modernized buildings on one side while plains and mountains stretching into the distance on the other. Gravestones and memorial statues of various sizes lined the ground row upon row, as if they were waiting for someone to call their name. Jayce's golden boots crunched along a gravel path, kicking up dust on their polished surface. His Mercury Hammer was securely strapped to his back, swinging ever so slightly with each step. Each time the hammer lightly tapped the back of his thigh, it gave him a sort of reassurance simply for the fact that it was there. He held a single sunflower delicately in his hands as he made his way purposefully along the gravel walkway.

His light brown overcoat, with a fur trimmed collar, while a protective golden breastplate was strapped over top of the coat. On this breastplate a leather vest was fitted, right beneath a large golden badge. The badge was adorned with the emblem of Piltover, a cogwheel, and was bordered by a sanguine color. This gold and red color scheme matched every other metallic section of his outfit: From his knuckle duster gloves to his shoulder pads, to even his boots. The only difference in color came from his coat, and the brown cargo pants he wore.

Ever since his retaliation against the Zaunite scientist, Viktor, he had been made a hero of Piltover. He became famous overnight, with the public falling in love with his image while the government gave him commission upon commission for new inventions and gadgets. They even begged him for the schematic for his mighty Mercury Hammer, to which he politely declined to give out. He was a symbol of Piltover, and subsequently dubbed the Defender of Tomorrow.

Still, even heroes had their beginnings.

"Hey dad."

Jayce stopped before a grave. It was small, plaque sized, but carefully cleaned and cared for. Jayce knelt down and placed the flower in front of the stone.

"Mom's still good. You know how she worries about me, but I'm watching her now. Sorry it's been so long, just got a bit busy. Ah..." He scratched the back of his head, "I guess I'm sounding silly. You weren't much for words ever, but you always were a good man. So...Thanks, dad. For raising me right. Dunno if I got to say that often enough, but thanks."

He patted the top of the grave, "Hope I made you proud."

Jayce got up and brushed his knees off. He was about to take off when a shock of pink hair caught his eye. Several rows and columns down, Vi stood in front of a petite grave, completely silent. Her gauntlets, which he had almost always seen her wear, were attached to a metal power pack that was snugly strapped to her back.

He hadn't seen her in quite some time. Ever since his house arrest was rescinded, they had not met again. During his house arrest, he had found out many things about her. She was enthusiastic, overly cocky, sarcastic, mocking, rude, constantly in motion, constantly talking and keeping him busy, but she always had time for fun, even if it meant breaking the law ever so slightly. In the off moments when he actually had the time to think about it, he realized that missed her presence. She was breath of fresh air, and surprisingly, no matter how fierce their arguments were, she never resorted to her fabled fists of fury.

To see her quiet at all was more of a shock than seeing her in a cemetery, but not quite as shocking as seeing her bare arms. They were not frail twigs, as they sported an impressive amount of muscle, but it did remind him that there was still flesh underneath the metal.

"Vi?"

The woman nearly leapt out of her skin. She spun around and jabbed her hands behind her, slipping her hands into her gauntlets. They became active as she stood ready to strike him. He could see the edges that he helped smooth out on her gauntlets, as well as the new gauges and the new wiring they had done together. Her facial expression, however, was completely foreign to him. No egotism, no cockiness, none of her usual flair. She looked almost...sad.

Upon realizing who it was, she let out a sigh of relief and waved Jayce off, "What're you doin' here, Capt? Shouldn't you be signing autographs for your adoring crowd?" Vi's eyes flitted about and she frowned, "Are there more weirdos I need to punch? I could punch a few of them for ya."

The memory of the many people at his door, and Vi shoving past all of them to create a pathway for him to go to his courtroom hearing popped to the front of his mind.

"No no, nothing like that. I was visiting my father's grave. May I ask wh-"

"Still have time for that, huh, Mister Hero?" Vi tried to keep the subject off of her with her fast talk and mocking tone. "I'm surprised since you never came by to say, 'hey Vi, thanks for babysitting my dumb ass,' or, 'sup Caitlyn, thanks for not putting me in jail with all the other pleasant convicts who would like t-"

"Why are you here, Vi?" Jayce interrupted. He was genuinely curious to know why she was here of all places.

The woman laughed and shrugged, her tone unchanging, "What? Is it so hard that people die for others too? Come on, Capt, that's a dumb, insensitive question and you know it."

Jayce stared at Vi. He leaned over and looked at the grave. In almost intelligible letters, it read, '_Holly. For the flowers that never bloomed. Though others may forget, I will always remember you. ~Violet_'

"Violet?"

Vi instantly turned red with anger and hissed at Jayce. Her eyes narrowed with a murderous glint. "Who told you that name?!"

"It says Violet on the tombstone...Wait, Violet? Your name is Violet?"

Vi snorted and looked away, crossing her arms in frustration.

"I thought you said Vi stands for vice?" Jayce said with a slight smile as he remembered those conversations. "Or was it for vicious? Or for violence?"

Vi did not reply. She looked away from Jayce in complete silence. It was unnerving to see her like this.

"Vi, are you alright?"

"..._Yeah_. I _am_. It's none of your concern, Jayce." She waved him off, "Nice seeing you, drop by sometime at headquarters. You look dumb in all that stuff, and your gloves look like they need some calibrating or something."

Jayce called out to Vi as she started to walk away, "You can talk to me, Vi. You know that, right?"

Vi stopped. She chuckled and threw Jayce a half grin, forcing her usual brash tone, "What were we doin' just now? Were we playing vocal charades?"

Jayce stepped towards Vi, "I'm not joking, you can talk to me, Vi. I mean it. There's..." He looked around and scratched his head, "Uh...I think south eastwards...a nice Ionian noodle place. Good food, good price, all that. They have real Ionian rice wine there too. Want some lunch?"

Vi snorted and burst out into a fit of laughter, "The hell is wrong with you? You feelin' sorry for me or somethin'? Relax Jayce, I got this..." Her laughter died down as she shook her head, "This time, I got it."

Vi blinked, realizing what she had said, and held her hands up while she attempted to justify herself under Jayce's scrutinizing stare, "Wait, that sounded ominous and foreshadowy. What I meant was..." Her voice trailed off as she failed to find justification in what she had just said.

The two stood in silence for what seemed like an eternity. Jayce made the first move and took a step away from Vi. "If you do not want to talk, that's alright. I'm going to the restaurant. I'd like it if you joined me, so we could talk, and catch up, but..." He began to walk away, "It's your choice, Vi."

He suddenly stopped and slapped the side of his head, "I forgot to do something. No wonder you've been so disdainful towards me!"

"Yeah? What'd you forget?" Vi grunted.

"I forgot to say thank you, for...Well, for being you," he laughed awkwardly. "Cheesy, I know, but thank you. I wouldn't have preferred anyone else's company, especially your partner's. No offense to him, but he's almost insufferably boring sometimes, y'know? Can take a joke, can barely dish one out, right? And don't get me started about talking to him about Quantum Magical theory, his left eye would start to twitch as his brain tried process..." He coughed in an attempt to cut himself off as he was getting off topic. "Anyway, thank you. I wouldn't choose any other officer to watch over me during house arrest. Especially not Finnigen."

Jayce waved at Vi, whose red face could be taken as either obscene amounts of anger, or obscene amounts of embarrassment. "I suppose I'll see you later."

Jayce had managed to take only five steps when the sound of Vi's voice stopped him, "Her name was Holly."

He stopped and turned back to Vi, who looked to one side and refused to meet his eyes. "I never had anyone. I'm an orphan. No 'rents or siblings anything. Grew up in a rough crowd. I learned a lot from 'em. They were the closest thing to family I had."

Jayce wanted to point out that he had heard this before, but she had said it with much more enthusiasm than how she was retelling it now. He went with his better judgement and stayed quiet.

"We did a job at a mine, screwed over a buncha good folks, and caused the mine to collapse. My gang wanted to leave 'em behind, it didn't sit right with me. I went in, improvised my gauntlets, and saved 'em. Suddenly, I went from petty jobs to being able to level entire cavern walls, y'know? Got to my head. I was bloody invincible. People crumpled like paper before me, one good punch and they'd kiss the clouds. I wanted to make a difference, so I started helping out the good folks, stopping the scum from being scum and all that. Caitlyn found me, gave me a chance to be more. I took it, and I screwed up."

Vi let out a single laugh in an attempt to calm herself. She brushed back her hair, her nerves starting to take effect as she bit her lower lip. "I didn't follow orders. I never did, still don't really unless I absolutely need to. I always did what I thought was best, and it worked. It always worked. I didn't follow Cait's orders, and she nearly died. Never seen her that bad, save for a few League matches. The scumbags that we were supposed to be after? They had a little girl. Name was Holly. She was..."

She laughed once more and shook her head, "She was a bloody little genius. The stuff she knew about explosives? Never seen from a scientist, never mind a little girl. She...Heh, she had no parents, no siblings, nuthin' either. She was taken in and used for her talents.I felt bad, y'know? I wanted t'help her. She was forced t'make explosives for them."

Vi turned her gauntlet downwards. She pointed at the various scratches that littered its sides. "I wanted to get her out, job almost complete, but me being me, I thought I could bust my way out. I did. I went head first, bullets everywhere, didn't scratch me. They scratched Holly's head."

A loud, metallic clang rang out as she snapped her fingers, "Like that, there goes a little girl and her dreams of being something more than a two bit criminal making explosives. All she wanted was to light up the night sky with fireworks. She deserved to have that chance. Faster than I could react, she's dead. All her hopes, all her dreams, everythin' about her, gone. And that? That coulda been me in a heartbeat. I screwed up. I screwed up so hard, I got a little girl killed. And that coulda been me one year ago, ten years ago, fifteen years ago."

Vi let out another laugh, but this time it matched her morose tone, "I'm surprised Caitlyn ever gave me a second chance. I wouldn't have. I'd have my dumb ass carted off to jail for that. But...Caitlyn gave me another chance. Even gave me a partner that can put up with my crap. Despite what I say to her, I'm never gonna forget what she did."

Vi looked behind her at the petite grave. With a slight nudge of her chin, she pointed at the tombstone, "Or her."

Silence fell upon them once more. Jayce had noticed one peculiar habit of Vi's while she was his "monitor". Every now and then, once or twice a month, she'd disappear without a word and seemingly without a reason. The only reason he even noticed this was because there were a few times when she was supposed to be monitoring him, when she would suddenly become angry. As if she had forgotten to do something that day. But she would never say what it was she had to do, and then she would leave in a rush without another word. Whenever she returned, she played it off as if she had never left in the first place.

Jayce, once again, broke the silence. "...Still up for lunch?"

Vi raised an eyebrow, "Eh? What for? You got what you wanted."

"I wanted to know why you were here. Thank you for telling me. I could tell it was hard," Jayce replied in a soft voice. This quickly disappeared as he coughed and attempted to sound a bit more masculine, "However, I have missed...being around you. Want some lunch? I'll pay."

"What am I, a hooker?" Vi's usual demeanor returned. "You tryin' to say you can buy me with lunch?"

"Wait, what? No! I didn't mean...No!" The Defender of Tomorrow raised his hands defensively, his hammer bumping off the back of his thigh. He spoke in a panicked tone now, "I meant I feel like I owe you for not coming to see you more often and I am now sticking my foot in my mouth and I really don't want to be punched for this! I mean this in the nicest way-!"

"Yeah yeah, I know what ya mean. Gimme a sec."

Vi walked over to Holly's grave and reached into her breast pocket. She took out a small, conical object with a stick and a fuse, and placed it on top of the grave. She snapped her fingers which let out a spark and ignited the fuse. Vi took several steps back and watched as the fuse disappeared. The firework took off into the sky, and exploded in a mess of colors, resembling a bouquet of flowers.

"Heh...Getting better at this. Hope you saw that." She gave a single wave at the grave, "Later, kid."

Vi walked up to Jayce and grabbed his shoulder. She half dragged him as she took off in a fast walk, "And now we move."

"What? Why?"

"It's illegal to shoot off fireworks in Piltover, within the city limits. Thought you'd know that, Mister _Genius_."

Jayce whipped his arm up and about Vi's bicep. Before she could react, he flipped his arm around hers and interlocked her arm with his, "Then, as a certified _genius_, I suggest we move _very _quickly." He shot her a quick smile as they both took off into a light jog.

Vi caught his smile and could not help but blush.

* * *

Thank you Kuz again, and be sure to take a gander at her work! s/8807057/1/The-Weight-of-Responsibility


	3. Conclusion

_A few months later, day before Snowdown_

It was a League sanctioned match between champions of Piltover. On the Fields of Justice, they would not die, at least, not permanently. This was just one way for them to train, an enthusiastic spar if anything. They had to practice somehow. It was a simple three versus three team deathmatch. It was slightly different from other League matches, since it involved no Nexi to destroy, just a time limit and how many times one team could best the other.

Caitlyn checked her rifle. She made sure the magazine was loaded, she double checked the firing mechanism, the sights that she kept affixed on her top hat were lowered over her right eye and the lenses were cleaned of any smudges. She knelt down in the brush, took aim, and flicked her safety off.

Vi stood behind her, impatiently pacing and drumming her metallic fingers against her gauntlets. "Can we go now?"

"Not yet."

"...How about now?"

"No. Wait for Janna."

"...Now?"

The lithe wind mage floated into the brush and announced her presence with a simple, airy sounding statement, "I have arrived."

"Vi? Three..."

Caitlyn took aim.

"Two..."

She took a breath.

"One."

She exhaled, and fired.

The bullet tore across the field, and seemingly curved in order to correct its trajectory. Vi laughed and clapped Caitlyn's shoulder with a bit too much enthusiasm. "Boom! Headshot! Ha ha!"

Vi took off running, following the bullet's path.

Janna looked over at Caitlyn and pointed at Vi as the overzealous woman quickly disappeared through some trees. The wind mage's voice sounded like it was echoing throughout a mountain range as she asked, "Is she always like that?"

The sheriff reached up to her shoulder and gave it a painful roll. A loud click of bone could be heard. "Yeah. She is."

Heimerdinger was nearly a kilometer away, setting up his turret nest. The Yordle's ridiculously large head bobbed about to the rhythm of his song while his spectacles twitched on his nose every other note. "There's antimony, arsenic, aluminum, selenium, and hydrogen and oxygen and nitrogen and rhenium, and nickel, neodymium, neptunium, germanium, and iron, americium, ruthenium, uranium, Europium, zirconium, lutetium, vanadium, and lanthanum and osmium and astatine and radium, and gold and protactinium and indium and gallium..."

He took a deep breath in, and was about to continue his song when a large steam golem stepped in front of him. The bullet shattered on the stomach of the golem, denting its steel exterior. The resulting shrapnel sounded like a small, brief hailstorm as it hit the ground in front of Blitzcrank.

Heimerdinger's moustache twitched as he thanked the golem, "Blitzcrank! That timing was absolutely impeccable! Wondrous!"

"- IT - WAS - OF - NO - CONCERN - FOR - ME - - - YOU - ARE - WELCOME - PROFESSOR - - - "

Heimerdinger twirled his moustache about, "Yes well, now we know where they are! All we need to do now..." He stopped and tilted his head, then readjusted his spectacles and squinted of into the distance. "Is...is that a woman running to us? Her trajectory suggests we are her target. Should we brace for impact or contact the mortician?"

Vi was tearing down the field, running at a ridiculous speed. Where her companions were, one could only guess, but the current main concern was that a woman with fists big enough to make even a golem envious was barreling straight toward them.

Blitzcrank readied its mighty fists, stepped out to meet their challenger, and took off in a puff of steam. With every step it took, one could easily mistake the sound of the golem gaining speed to the metallic clamor of a train.

Vi grinned as the golem sped towards her. She was expecting someone else, but this would be a good warm up. The golem's hand twitched once, and shot out in a burst of steam. The large hand hurtled towards her, open and ready to grab her. The size of the hand made it easy enough for the golem to wrap its steel fingers around the waist of even the fattest League champion.

The imagery of Gragas being reeled in popped into Vi's head. The thought of a fat man flying through the air made her laugh. With a sniffle and a grin, she barrelled head first towards the speeding hand.

Vi fell back and slid on the ground, barely missing the outstretched fingers of Blitzcrank. She went with her gut instinct and tumbled forward as she got closer to him. When Vi was close enough, she launched herself into the air, her fists ready to make first contact. The golem took an offensive stance, ready to meet her fist with its own, when the flash of an electrical current caught the corner of Vi's eyes. A figure rushed forward, the glint of gold ever brighter from the electricity that crackled from its source: A hammer.

Vi raised her left arm up to her chest as the hammer slammed into her gauntlet, throwing her back and away from the golem and the new challenger. She lowered her gauntlet, her grin now an honest to goodness smile.

Jayce had appeared. He patted Blitzcrank's side and said in a confident voice, "Leave her to me, golem."

"- ARE - YOU - SURE - JAYCE - ? - - -"

"Watch out for Caitlyn and Janna. Cait used the wind to alter her bullet's path so we can't expect them to come from this way, they'll probably go around and try and take the professor out quietly. Go look after him." Jayce swung the hammer about his body for a bit, showing off a few simple tricks before he stopped and tightened his grip on its haft. "I'll deal with her myself."

" - IF - YOU - SAY - SO - - - I - WILL - LEAVE - YOU - TWO - BE - - -" The golem walked away, apparently happy beyond reason. That is, one could assume such a thing if the golem had any facial expressions whatsoever. "- MY - CALCULATIONS - ARE - CORRECT - - - MY - EQUATION - HAS - BEEN - TRULY - PERFECTED - - -!"

Vi readjusted her gauntlets, smiling at Jayce. She fluffed her hair back and cricked her knuckles, "I was wondering when you'd appear, Capt! Come on, bring the golem back." She wiped the tip of her nose with her knuckles, her tone mocking him, "It's the only way you'll have a chance. I'm a one girl wrecking crew, and you're...Well, you're you."

Jayce tested the weight of his hammer. His face twisted into the appearance of mock fear as he shrugged, "Hm...A one girl wrecking crew versus the future of weaponry and technology. What should I do...? Ah!" He flicked the side of his head as though he had come upon a great revelation. "I know! I'll give you a choice!"

Jayce clicked a button which made the bottom of the hammer's shaft explode in a burst of fire. It sent him propelling several meters to the sky when it abruptly stopped. He plummeted to the ground and landed with a thundering crash. The landing was perfect, his hammer in front of him, the scorched earth around him, and that smile on his face. "Feel free to give up now."

Vi placed one of her gauntlets beneath her chin. She seemingly stroked it as her smile widened, as though she were lost in thought. "Hmm...You know, I really do like your smile." She took off running directly toward him. Her fist crackled with energy as she flew through the air, aiming at the chest of the Defender. A slight change in trajectory made her nearly take his head clean off with an uppercut. If it weren't for the fact that Jayce blocked the strike using his hammer, he would have been messily decapitated.

"Gives me something to aim at," she laughed as she leapt back to gain some distance. Vi readied her fists again, a devilish glint in her eyes.

"Hey Jayce..."

The Defender rushed forward, fire and electricity roaring out from his hammer as he swung at her. Her fist rocketed forward, aiming straight at his jaw while his hammer aimed at the side of her head. They both thought they were faster than the other, that if they had managed to land the hit, the impact would push their opponent away and leave the victorious one unscathed.

The two called out in unison, "Power slam!"

The hammer connected with Vi's face while her fist connected with Jayce's jaw in the exact same moment. Instead of flying back, they just stood in place, the whites of their eyes seemingly staring at one another. Neither of them moved, that is, until Janna floated by, screaming, "AHHHH!"

Blitzcrank thundered behind her, shooting its fists wildly at her in its attempt to grab her. She was barely able to dodge the onslaught of grabby hands.

"Stop that you awful, pervy robot!"

"-HAH-HAH-HAH- - - I - HAVE - NO - IDEA - WHAT - THAT - MEANS - - - BUT - IT - ACTIVATES - MY - LAUGHTER - BOX - - -"

"You don't have a laughter box!"

"- I - INSTALLED - IT - - - JUST - A - FEW - DAYS - AGO - - -"

Janna stopped and tilted her head in confusion for a brief moment. "Huh...That makes no sense..."

"-YES - - - YES - IT - DOES - - - " Its arm rocketed out again, "- I - WILL - GET - YOU - AND - YOUR - SMALL - ELEMENTAL - PET - TOO - - -"

Janna shrieked in mock terror as she held up her staff, "EEEEEE!" A vicious gust of wind roared out from her, sending the golem tumbling through the air.

Blitzcrank's body sailed far too easily for something its weight. "-THIS - MAKES - NO - SENSE - - - HOW - AM - I - FLYING - LIKE - THIS - - - ?"

The golem could see Vi and Jayce rapidly approaching. It waved its large hand at its teammate, "- JAYCE - - - I - AM - AN - INCOMING - PROJECTILE - - - MOVE - OUT - OF - THE - WAY - - - !"

Blitzcrank plummeted to the ground, its steel body skipping from the force of the impact and spun through the air. It eventually landed mere feet away from them, sliding closer and closer. The golem's head touched the heel of Jayce's boot, which made the Defender of Tomorrow, along with his opponent, collapse at the same time.

A loud voice called out, "FIRST BLOOD! BLITZCRANK HAS SLAIN JAYCE! BLITZCRANK HAS SLAIN VI! DOUBLE KILL!" The announcer could be heard attempting to stifle her laughter of what had just occurred.

"- - - WHAT - - -"

* * *

After the match had ended, Vi stormed into the lobby. She grumbled aloud, "I can't believe Blitz took the credit for that first kill. Friggin' cheating robot..." Her eyes flitted about, trying to find the man she was looking for. She found him quite easily due to his large golden hammer towering over everyone's head. She raised a gauntleted hand and waved wildly at him, "Hey! Jayce! Hey!"

The Defender seemed to be already looking for someone when he spotted her. He smiled that damn, handsome smile of his and made his way over to her. He pushed past the other champions that were also occupying the lobby. Jayce waved back at her, "Vi, that first kill with you and me-"

"Hitting each other at the same time?! That was _a-ma_-zing!"

"And we both yelled at the same time-"

"Power slam!"

The two of them laughed in unison. Vi slapped Jayce's arm humorously, leaving a large bruise."Then the next fight! Bwa ha ha! I totally got your spleen! You were all, 'oh no my spleen! My precious organ!' And then Janna took the kill and I was all like, 'The crap, Janna?! Why do you gotta steal my kills?!'" Vi laughed once more, "What's with the damn support taking all the kills?!"

"You seem to be forgetting what happened_ after_that!"

"Please, that makes _you_ seem important! We're talking about _me _here!"

Jayce raised an eyebrow. "It's not my fault you grabbed the end of my hammer when it was in mid transformation!" He burst out laughing, "Although I have to admit that it was really funny when you flew into the tree!" Jayce's demeanor instantly darkened as he grumbled aloud, "Except the tree took my kill...Damn, stupid tree..."

Vi pressed her fingers on her ear as she mimicked the voice of the announcer, "A TREE HAS SLAIN VI. JAYCE SUCKS TOO MUCH TO DO IT HIMSELF."

They both burst out in another fit of loud laughter, unaware of the disturbance they were causing. They were drawing annoyed looks as other champions started to move away from the rambunctious duo.

Jayce wiped a tear away from the corner of his left eye, reining himself in for what he wanted to say. "Hey, Vi? Can I ask you something?"

"Sure ya can, Capt!" Vi let out a sharp breath of air in an attempt to blow her hair away from her face. "Whatcha want?"

"Can you come with me? Just for a minute, I won't-"

"Yeah sure." She clicked her heels together and saluted him, "I'll follow you to the ends of the earth, oh captain my captain!"

Jayce laughed and started to walk away. Vi easily kept his pace and walked alongside him, wondering where he was going, and where he was taking her.

Blitzcrank, however, was attempting to gather the attention of its fellow champions as it spouted something about having finally perfected its equation. It would prove it by using Ezreal as an example to find his perfect match. An idea that the young, blonde explorer found to be absolutely abysmal.

"Blitzcrank! I said stop!"

"- BUT - I - MUST - FIND - IT - FOR - YOU - - -"

"No! No spoilers! I want to find out myself!"

"- AND - HOW - HAS - THAT - WORKED - OUT - FOR - YOU - - - ?"

"...Shut up!" Ezreal promptly stormed off, leaving Blitzcrank to find some other poor, lonely soul to use his lovely equation on.

Jayce eventually led Vi to a balcony. It had a thick layer of snow blanketing it. He didn't seem to mind as he stepped out, his boots crunching the white underneath. His outfit kept him warm, while the combination of Vi's clothing and the residual thermal energy from her gauntlets kept her warm. Vi looked around, "Mm...I can see what's going on here."

"You...You can?" He almost seemed dismayed at such a thought.

"Yeah, you brought me out here to murder me." Vi looked around, scanning the scene about them. She frowned playfully, "It's a terrible place to do so. The League would totally know, and-"

"Vi, I'm serious."

"Oh you're going to seriously kill me? Eh, I knew it had to be you or that Yordle, Timo, or whatever the little shnook's name is. Creepy little b-"

"Violet."

Vi cringed. She looked at Jayce with a glare that would make even the most hardened criminals soil themselves, and actually had several times. "Got my attention. What is it."

"Ah...It's a little early, but I wasn't sure when I'd see you and it is Snowdown Eve, so..." Jayce reached into his coat pocket. He took out a small box, perfectly wrapped in violet colored wrapping paper with golden bow. "Happy Snowdown."

Vi reached out to grab it, only to realize her gauntlets were far too large to grab a delicate gift such as this. She reached over at her left gauntlet, clicked a few buttons and flipped a few switches. The sound of metal churning was suddenly heard. She slipped off her left gauntlet, and attached it to her backpack. A solid click was heard. The same sounds were heard as she repeated the same procedure on her right gauntlet and affixed it beneath her other glove.

It was still strange to see how small her arms truly were when compared to the size of her gauntlets. She reached over and took the present from Jayce.

"What is it? What is it?!" She bounced up and down with excitement, as if she were a child who had just woken up for Snowdown. "Can I open it? Can I? Can I?!"

"Well, you're supposed to wait for tomorrow, but knowing y-"

Jayce did not have a chance to finish his sentence as Vi tore the carefully wrapped gift apart. She flipped the box open and her smile widened as her eyes lit up.

"Is...Is this what I think it is?"

"It is...and it isn't," Jayce admitted.

Vi reached into the box and lifted a blue crystal out of it. The spherical crystal's circumference easily fit in the palm of her hand. She turned and twisted it every which way, "It's one of your power crystals, right?"

"Yeah, it is. Based on the research and the matrix of the original one, the one that Viktor stole."

"Heard these went into mass production, but..." Vi continued to analyze it, her tone lit with excitement and curiosity. "They're only as big as a coin, those ones. Rectangular, too. Not meant for a huge output, easily overloaded if you're not careful with how you're using them. Why is this one-"

"I formed it myself. After figuring out the energy matrix, it is a simple manner of replication into a magically infused crystal during the growing process. Though it's nowhere close to the original, it should help improve your backpack's power output by fifty seven percent at the very least, and it will keep a charge for longer periods of time than your current setup."

Vi placed the crystal back into the box, "Thanks, sweetie. That was nice of you."

"You..." Jayce fixed his collar nervously. "You missed the other gift. Underneath the crystal."

Vi raised an eyebrow in suspicion. She reached for the padding that the crystal rested on, and pulled it upwards. Before anything else, she took the crystal out of the box once more and pocketed it. She pulled the padding off, and let out a light, uncontrolled gasp. It was very hard to surprise her, but she was legitimately surprised.

Underneath the padding were two pairs of small, silver ringed earrings. Simple and elegant in design, and had been polished to a brilliant shine.

"I, ah...I thought that they would suit you. Not that I don't mind how you look, you look fine to me, but I thought you'd-"

Vi patted Jayce's cheek, "Give me a minute, kay, Jayce?"

A silence fell upon them. Vi stared at the earrings for what seemed like an eternity. Then she finally spoke and simply asked, "Why?"

Jayce laughed and smiled, continuing to readjust his collar nervously. "Well...I thought...You'd like them. From a friend to another friend. I thought they suited you, and I wanted to show that you mean a lot to me. As a friend, you know? We have one another. I mean, as friends of course." He became increasingly flustered the longer he spoke, "And I know you'd appreciate a good power crystal, good source of energy and I thought maybe I should also get you something a bit more personal but I wasn't too sure how personal-"

"Jayce?" Her tone was alien to him. He could not put his finger on what it sounded like. From almost anyone else, he would say it sounded...amorous.

"...Yes?" He readied himself for some sort of strike, some sort of sharp tongued thing for her to say.

"Shut up already."

Vi leaned over and gave him a quick peck on his lips.

Jayce felt as though Vi had just slapped him. Actually, he would have preferred that. He would know how to react. Jayce would have to approach this very carefully, and very suavely.

"Ahbuh?"

The two sort of stared at one another, looking off to the side and not quite making eye contact, unsure of what to do now. The sound of a clock ticking filled their ears. They turned to the door and stared at the source. Both of them went as pale as death.

A clockwork girl stared at the two of them. Her glistening silver and gold gilded body mechanically clicked and moved constantly. It was as though it attempted the organic movements of a delicate youth yet failed to do so with every twitch and jerk of her limbs. Her soulless eyes seemed to bore into their own. Held in her arms was a large, metal ball that had a lens of some sort embedded in its center. The clockwork girl asked in an eerily robotic voice, "_-What-are you doing-out- here? Is it not- cold - for you?_"

Vi and Jayce looked at one another, not exactly sure how to respond.

Jayce decided to try and speak to the robot girl, "...It's a bit cold, Orianna. But-"

"_I have-heard that - by hugging - you are able - to share -body - heat - - - Is that not - right - Ball?_"

The lens in the sphere popped out via a telescopic arm. It swiveled and swerved about and nodded happily.

"_See? You - should - hug one another - - - Keep one - another - warm - - -_"

This caused Vi and Jayce grab one another in a tight, frightened embrace. Jayce could not wrap his arms around the entirety of Vi's gauntlets, and had to hug her by her waist. Perhaps too low for comfort of most people.

Orianna's robotic, monotonous laughter filled the air. Her shining metal face cracked as her silver lips bent upwards into an artificial smile. "_That is - a pleasant - scene - - - You look - like - you really - like - one another - - -_" The Ball in her arms bobbed up and down excitedly once more. "_It is good - to see - Cait-Lyn's - friends happy- this Eve - - - I am - sure - Cait - Lyn - would - agree - - -_"

Orianna politely curtsied to them. Her legs bent themselves in a seemingly impossible manner, save for perhaps the most flexible, double jointed ballerina. "_Have - a fair - night - friends of - Cait - Lyn - - - I shall - go - home and - celebrate Snowdown - with my - father and - the Ball - - - The Ball - is - happy - tonight - - - It does - not wish - to flay your - skin - - -"_

She let out another round of mechanical laughter, "_- That was - a joke - - - A - fair night - - - Friends - of Cait-Lyn - - - A - fair night - to - the - both of - you - - -_"

With that, the clockwork girl walked away. She hummed aloud in a single note in what she thought to be a Snowdown carol and leaving the severely creeped out couple alone on the balcony.

"...Jayce?"

"Yes, Vi?"

"Your hands are on my butt."

"Hm? Oh. Oh!"

Jayce was about to lift them off when Vi tightened her hug around his arms.

"I didn't say stop."

Vi leaned forward once more, and gently kissed Jayce. He thought it was strange for a woman as brash and abrasive as Vi to be so gent-

Then he found himself swept off his feet. Jayce was nearly suspended in midair as he was tilted back while Vi deepened the kiss between them. Several seconds passed before she released the two of them and allowed the Defender of Tomorrow to stand on his own and to catch his breath. His hammer had almost slid out of its case from the severe angle that she had tilted his entire body down to.

Once she helped him back to his feet, Vi grabbed his hand and started dragging him. In her other hand, she securely held the box with the earrings.

"Where are we going?"

"Your place."

"My place? For what?"

"For Snowdown. I'm staying the night," Vi stated. The tone in her voice made it sound like a finalized decision, a point that could not be argued in any shape or form.

Jayce decided to go with his better judgement and stepped in pace with Vi. He walked hand in hand with the violent, brash girl that he had come to find as more than a friend.

* * *

Author's Note: Once again, thank you KuzAnn for all of your editing, patience, discussion, and not strangling me! Happy Holidays all of my readers and I suppose I should say a few things. Equinox is being worked on, same as the Irelia story and same as the Poll stories! I am also close to finishing up my planning for the Riven story! It's going to be a big year! See you all in the new year!


End file.
